The present invention relates to a measuring cell, whereby solid granular or pulverous material is analyzed in order to define the chemical, physical and/or physico-chemical properties of the material.
From the FI patent 62,733 there is known an apparatus for analyzing granular and pulverous material as for its physical or physico-chemical properties, which apparatus comprises a chamber provided with an aperture covered with a radiation-permeable membrane, which chamber can be filled with pulverous or granular material. In this apparatus, the material to be analyzed is fed in through the top part of the chamber, and at the bottom of the chamber there is provided a stop valve and a vibrator, so that the chamber can be tightly filled with the material to be analyzed, at least as high as the top part of the aperture covered with the membrane, prior to the analysis. This is carried out by closing the valve for the duration of the filling, and at the same time by keeping the vibrator in operation in order to pack the material tightly. Consequently the material in question remains stable during analysis, and the material flow passing through the chamber is stopped. According to the FI patent 62733, the properties of the material can be analyzed while the material does not move. However, if the apparatus of the FI patent 62,733 is positioned for instance in a main product flow, it is clear that the product flow becomes discontinuous and thus difficult to control.
While employing the apparatus of the FI patent 62,733, the properties of the material under analysis are measured only from the amount of material that happens to fall behind the membrane-covered aperture at certain intervals. The obtained measuring results do not, however, necessarily represent the average properties of the whole amount of material.